Mars-class Battleship
Summary History and Use The original Mars-class Battleship concept had it's hull laid at the shipyard facilities beneath MOD Boscombe Down. Launched into orbit under the cover of secrecy this initial vessel, the HMS Bellerophon ''served as the SEF's primary fleet vessel until it's destruction in 2011 when it was sacrificed by it's Captain Jean-pierre de la Croix to destroy the hostile vessel ''Gladstone ''created by the rogue former-member of the UKGC Dr Robert Stephenson. The ''Bellerophon ''possessed a number of systems reliant on alien technology that could not be easily reverse engineered for mass production. Explicitly the ZPM-powered primary armament. The legacy of the ''Bellerophon ''would live on in the shape of its successor-vessel the HMS ''Pegasus ''which served as a second generation of the hull, stripping out a number of the exotic systems of her predecessor for expanded hanger bays. The ''Pegasus also marked the beginning of joint British-American collaboration on construction and refinement of the design. Following the destruction of the Pegasus during the invasion of Earth in 2015 the joint British-American shipbuilding program was accelerated without the need for public secrecy and with the formation of the UNE the 3rd Generation Mars-class was selected alongside the BC-304 Battlecruiser and Alliance-class Multirole Corvette as the three principle vessels of the UNE fleet. Each of the Mars-class Battleships serve as the center of the UNE Fleet's five Battlegroups supported by the smaller BC-304s and Alliance-class vessels. Hull The hull of the Mars is immensely well armoured with the 3rd generation vessels utilising carbon nanotube technology developed at BAE systems. In addition to their hull plating, the Mars-class is protected by a 'shell' of ablative plating. This protects the main superstructure and hull plating of the vessel from combat damage, and can be easily jettisoned and individual sections replaced from shipyard stock while the Mars is in dry-dock. Systems The Mars makes use of native Crystal technologies for its computing systems, at its core it is powered by an immense Naquada-reactor designed from the ground up with Elysian technology o increase power transfer around the vessel to maximise its utilization of the power plant. In addition to these systems the Mars possesses a suite of advanced sensors as well as a compliment of over a hundred different smaller craft depending on the specific mission needs of the vessel. It is also capable of orbit-to-surface insertion of its onboard Marine compliment via the use of the Asgard teleportation technology installed into the vessel and refined following the acquisition of the Asgard archives. Though built and refined on Earth the hyperdrive and impulse technology borrows from the advanced technological knowledge of the Grandine making it one of the most powerful such drives outside of he vessels operated by the Grandine themselves. Weaponry Due to its favourable status as the preferred contractor for British weapons development, BAE systems engineers were allowed access to energy weapons technology acquired from the Aethernauts prior to the collapse of relations with them. This project led to the final development of the 60" Beam Cannon of which the third generation mass-production Mars-class mounts a twinned pair within immense turrets lining its dorsal and ventral areas. These turrets produce continual streams of energy in the form of 'beams' that can be sustained at close range to 'cut' through enemy vessels with skilled enough gunnery. The surface of the vessel is dotted with CEMAT-type Point Defence Railguns that protect the vessel from incoming missile fire and small craft, the majority of these are operated by automated systems rather than being slaved to direct control from a weapons station, using advanced AI computing to prevent blue-on-blue intercept fire. Along the port and starboard of the ships midsection a the Mars-class has two immense weapons bays. Each of these has eight weapons stations inside. These immense weapons stations are capable of acting as individual silos for missiles and rockets containing payloads up to and including Naquada-enhanced Nuclear Weapons. Though they lack the ZPM-powered main gun of the Bellerophon the latest generation of Mars-class vessels mount a potent primary armament. Following tendering by the UNE the manufacture of this component fell to Rheinmetall AG resulting in the 157" Bomb-pumped GRASER. Standing for Gamma Ray Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation the GRASER relies on initiating a Nuclear reaction within the vessels core and then channeling the energy into a coherent beam down the spinal focusing array of the weapon that runs the length of the vessel. Though not the equal of the original Ancient weapon used by the Bellerophon ''the GRASER is a formidable main gun. Shields Using a combination of GGC, Goa'uld and other technologies the US and British teams working on the third generation of Mars-class vessels developed powerful shield generators that project a shielding bubble that conforms to its surface shape by relying on four coordinated shield projectors. This gives the shield bubble a sleeker profile then previous generations and other Earth craft ensuring the least amount of power is expended deflecting damage that would not have struck the vessel otherwise. Known Vessels There are six Mars-class Battleships currently operated by the UNE and SEF, five of these serve as the flagships of the UNE fleet battlegroups, while the sixth the HMS ''Lanfear is assigned to the SEF. Though the initial ships of the line followed a tradition of naming vessels after mythological figures, the UNE has instituted a system of naming all subsequent Mars-class' after Political Leaders. = ---- Back to Scientific Database Category:Ships Category:Earth Tech